


dream library

by sleeepybear



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Public Display of Affection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-01-04 23:17:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18353753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeepybear/pseuds/sleeepybear
Summary: Now that he’s here, maybe following a mysterious dark haired boy wasn’t the smartest idea he’s ever had in his life. Then again, when has Ryuji Sakamoto ever claimed to be smart?(The AU that I dreamed about, and made a thing.)(Most likely won't get finished)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hello!! welcome to my second big project!
> 
> first things first - this actually came from a weird dream i had, and then developed with my boyfriend, so lots of love to him!
> 
> this time we have a beta! thank you to Hypertails7773 for looking over and editing this for me! you're the best!
> 
> onto the first chapter, hope you enjoy!

Now that he’s here, maybe following a mysterious dark haired boy wasn’t the smartest idea he’s ever had in his life. Then again, when has Ryuji Sakamoto ever claimed to be smart?

  
It was supposed to be his first day back at school, after getting his cast off and recovering from the whole...incident. 

  
He’s not sure how the boy caught his eye. He saw movement in his peripheral, and looked, and made eye contact with the cutest, no, _hottest_ person he’s ever seen in his life, and, wow, those are some gay thoughts he hadn’t entertained in a very long time. 

  
The boy beckoned to him with one finger who was Ryuji to ignore someone who looked like a literal angel? 

  
He started towards the boy, fully enchanted by... something about him. Maybe it's the way his lips curled into a knowing smirk, or that look in his eyes at Ryuji can’t quite name, or how that mess of black hair on his head seemed to defy gravity. Either way, when the boy disappeared around a corner, he was quick to follow. 

  
Back in his track days, he would’ve been able to catch up with mystery boy no problem, but this dude seems unreasonably fast, even though he doesn’t seem to be running? Mystery boys always just one step ahead, turning the corner just as Ryuji turns the last one. It should be impossible, and all sorts of warning bells should be going off in his head, but mystery dude has him on a string. 

  
It feels like he follows the boy for an eternity, weaving through the back streets of Tokyo until Ryuji’s sure that if he stopped now, he’d be hopelessly lost, _and_ late to school. So why stop? 

  
Finally, _finally_ , it seems his short journey is at an end. He looks at his phone, and yeah, it's 9 AM already, so he’s super late. He looks up, and...

  
There's a massive door. It's wooden and easily twice as tall as Ryuji, with weird carvings in it. Again, really should have alarm bells going off in his head, but... 

  
Mystery boys standing right next to it, leaning against the wall next to the massive door. The smirk on his face is killer.

  
“Just this way.” 

  
God, even mystery boy’s _voice_ is incredible. It matches him perfectly. Ryuji’s hooked. Completely and utterly hooked. He can’t even think about denying him. This guy could shoot him in the forehead and he’d stand there and grin while he did it. 

  
His feet are moving before he even realizes they are, obediently approaching the big wooden door. The boy pushes it, opening it with ease, and Ryuji follows him inside without hesitation. 

  
It's almost like... a library, but not a public one with hardly any funding, there's a big staircase leading up somewhere, there's a fireplace, armchairs and bookshelves. And there's people, sitting in the chairs, reading or sitting on each other laps or playing chess. 

  
He’s only snapped out of the weird fog he’s in when the door slams behind him, shaking him to the core. The realization of what he just did sets in.  
  
He followed a stranger. A pretty stranger, but a stranger nonetheless, and followed him to a place he knows nothing about. On a _school_ day. When Ryuji’s already in hot water with the lovely administration at Shujin.  


Ryuji whirls around, pulling on the door handles with all his might, then pushing just in case it's a push door. Nothing. They’re shut tight.

  
“Welcome.” The boys voice chimes in, completely unalarmed as he watches Ryuji struggle.  


He quickly realizes there's no point in wasting his energy on the stupid door, so he turns back around. “Where--”

  
“This one for you, Kurusu?” 

  
Two little girls just appeared out of _nowhere_ , and Ryuji will deny the shriek that comes out of his mouth for the rest of his days. 

  
“What do you mean fo--” 

  
But apparently no one is in the mood for allowing him to fucking _talk_ today. 

  
“Yep.” The mystery boy, Kurusu, apparently, is beaming, as if he didn’t just lead Ryuji to a weird ass library with eyepatch wearing little girls appearing out of thin air.

  
“What do you mean for _you?_ ” He repeats himself, looking at Kurusu, who’s just pleasantly smiling back at him as if nothing is wrong with what’s going on here. Then he feels something going around his neck. 

  
He took his damn eyes off the two girls for one second, and the little shits put a necklace on him. 

  
He looks down at it, trying to take it off. In theory that should be simple, it's just a wooden pendant with a weird design on it, attached to a chain. But it won’t come off. It's like the thing weighs a ton, he can’t get it off no matter how hard he tries. 

  
“What the hell!?” He practically screeches, rather indignantly, but can you blame him? 

  
“New people are always so jumpy...” Left Eyepatch Girl sighs. 

  
“And loud.” Right Eyepatch Girl nods her agreement. 

  
“You know how it is.” Kurusu shrugs, giving them both a pat on the head. They seem pleased, turning on their heels and marching off like little soldiers. Ryuji would have thought that it was cute, except that he can’t get the stupid necklace off-- 

  
“Sorry. Lost cause.” Kurusu grabs Ryuji’s hands. He would’ve been totally down with that a few minutes ago, but now that all this freaky shit is going on, not so much. 

  
“The hell you mean ‘lost cause’?!” He yanks his hands away, making Kurusu frown. Which is awful, a face like that shouldn’t be _allowed_ to pout.

 

“I’m saying that this is your new home. This is how we all got here. You’ll get used to it.” This guy, no matter how perfect he is, is making this seem like not a big deal. Like he totally didn’t just pull some Pied Piper shit, leading Ryuji to a freaky library.

  
“You’ve got to be shitting me...” 

  
He has school! Not like he has any friends he really has to worry about missing him, but god, what about his _mom?_

  
He has to get out of here. 

  
Ryuji makes a beeline for the nearest window, the glass is so frosted you can’t see out of it at all, not even blurry shapes. No idea how _that_ works, but he quickly starts trying to latch, trying to push it open. 

  
He can hear Kurusu sigh, and follow him. “Ryuji--” 

  
“Nah, hell no. It's Sakamoto to you.” 

  
“...Sakamoto, it's really not that bad. I swear, I can teach you all you need to know. This place, it's--” 

  
“No, no, I don’t wanna hear it.” He turns to face him, pointing an accusatory finger in his face. “You! You stay away from me. Got it?” 

  
“That’s really not--” Kurusu starts, but Ryuji won’t even let him.

  
“Shshsh! No! Don’t say a single thing, got it!? I’m getting out of here.” 

  
He turns on his heel, going down the hall. 

  
There has to be a window or door in this place that’ll open. He can look at every single one if thats how long it takes. 

  
At least it doesn’t look like Kurusu followed him. Which is good. He doesn’t wanna get distracted by that jerk. A pretty jerk, but that just means that he can get away with more shit. 

  
This place seems to go on forever. Just when he thinks he’s gotten to a dead end, nope, there's more hallway waiting for him. 

  
Also, there's tons of people in this place. There's so many rooms, and what seems to be some kind of common area? Cozy armchairs where people are… Gross. PDA is gross. Ugh. He quickly looks away from the couples being all lovey dovey. 

  
They all seem to be wearing the freaky necklaces, just like he is. Come to think of it, didn’t Kurusu have a necklace like that? What even is this place, anyway? 

  
He can feel a weird sense of dread, slowly becoming more and more of a weight in his chest. It's probably the fact that he just can’t get out of here. That must be it. What else could it-- 

  
Oh, there's a guy right there. 

  
Ryuji stops, looking at the dude who just intercepted his path, and immediately decides he doesn’t like him. The guys got a pleasant smile on, but Ryuji’s pretty damn good at seeing through people’s bullshit facades, and this guy is anything but pleasant. You can see it in the eyes. He’s all proper looking, longish brown hair, and a tie, and a jacket. Looks like he just came home an office job, really. 

  
“Excuse me, where is your higher?” The boy asks, tilting his head, slightly. 

  
“...What? The hell you mean, higher?” 

  
That stupid pleasant smile gets just a bit tighter, a bit more forced. 

  
“You must be new then. You, are a lesser. Whoever brought you here, is your higher.” He sighs, as if this all should be obvious.  “I have to inform you that you’re upsetting the other residents.” 

  
“For real? They all seem to busy sucking face to notice little ‘ol me.” He finds great joy in seeing that smile get just a little bit more strained.  


“Who is your higher, anyway? The person who brought you here?” The boy prompts him.

  
“Uh, some guy named Kurusu, I think? That’s what the little eyepatch ladies called him.” 

  
The smile drops from the boys face entirely. 

  
“Ah. I see. Well then. He’ll find you eventually.” 

  
The boy turns on his heel, walking away without another word. Weird... Ryuji doesn’t have time to ponder why he suddenly flipped over the mention of Kurusu’s name. And what was that about highers and lessers? He isn’t less than anyone! 

  
Not to mention the feeling in his chest is getting worse. He can’t just brush it off as being worried about his situation. It's way too bad for that. He’s... he’s gotta sit down somewhere.  


His back hits a wall, and he slowly slides down it, resting his head in his hands. The hell is going on? Is it something this place does to people? That wouldn’t make sense, since everyone else seemed fine when he was walking around…

  
“Ryuji?” 

  
He looks up, right into the face of kidnapper, and, apparently, his savior, as the feeling goes away as soon as he makes eye contact. 

  
“I told ya. It’s just Sakamoto, to you.” He grumbles. 

  
“Right. Sorry.” He smiles apologetically, which really shouldn’t affect Ryuji to the extent it does. 

  
Kurusu sits down next to him properly, keeping a little bit of distance, which he appreciates. 

  
“I should have explained the rules of this place.” 

  
“Yeah, ya should have.” Ryuji hugs his knees close to his chest, resting his chin on top of them. 

  
“That necklace you have on?” 

  
“What about it?” Just thinking about the freaky thing makes him shift a bit uncomfortably. 

  
“It ties the two of us together. Like a bond.” 

  
“...uhuh. So... whats that mean?” 

  
“It _means_ that I’m what they call a higher. And you’re a lesser.” Kurusu bites his lip. “Though I don’t like those terms…but, that’s what they use.” 

  
“I don’t like it either.” Ryuji shifts again. Part of him wants to scoot closer to Kurusu, but… “Who’s ‘they’, anyway?” 

  
“People who run this place. Igor we don’t ever see, no one really knows what he does.” He counts them off on his fingers. “Caroline and Justine--” 

  
“The two little chicks with eyepatches?” 

  
“Yeah, that’s them. They keep the peace, hand out necklaces, that kind of thing. And then we have some regular people who are admins.” 

  
“Like?” 

  
“Well, I used to be one. So did Naoto. Akechi is the only one left, now, I think.” 

  
Now Ryuji looks up at him properly. 

  
“Why’d you stop?” 

  
“Well, admins can’t have lessers. And I didn’t wanna go on forever like that.” He shrugs. 

  
“Oh... wait, whaddya mean forever?” Gosh, he must sound like a broken record, spewing out questions like this. 

  
“Time doesn’t really... work, here. You know? So...” And for the first time during this whole ordeal, Kurusu looks almost… Guilty. “You mentioned your mom, so... what’ll be like days and weeks to you, won’t be anything to her.” 

  
“Oh, thank god.” He said with a sigh of relief. That’s what he was _really_ worried about. 

  
“So, uhm...” Kurusu holds out a hand to him. “I’m Akira.” 

  
With some hesitance, Ryuji takes it, and they shake. “...you already know my name, so...” 

  
“Is it okay if I call you Ryuji, then?” 

  
“Yeah, whatever...” He doesn’t have the energy to protest anymore. All that stress and whatever that feeling was wiped him right out. 

  
“Cmon. Let’s get you out of here.” Kurusu- no, Akira, helps him up. Taking Ryuji’s hand, he leads him down the seemingly endless labyrinth of hallways. He’s way too tired to even think about where they’re going, or what any of this means. 

  
Finally, Akira stops in front of yet another door, seemingly identical to all the other ones in this hallway, opening it to reveal a small bedroom, with a bed just big enough for two. How he managed to pick out this one particular door out of what seems like a hundred is yet another mystery that he’s way too exhausted to even attempt to solve at the moment. 

  
“You can just rest here, okay?” 

  
He hardly registers Akira’s words, dive bombing that comfy looking bed and promptly arranging himself to be more comfortable. 

  
When he wakes up, this’ll all be a dream. He’ll be home, and his alarm will blare, and he’ll forget this weird dream as soon as he wakes up.

 

  
As soon as he wakes up.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuji sees more of the Dream Library, and meets some new friends.
> 
> Along with a new enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! welcome to chapter 2!
> 
> i hope you enjoy this, i finally get to show off my favorite couple in all of persona history in this fic... im SHOCKED i haven't done a fic centered around them yet,,,,,,, perhaps one day!
> 
> thank you again to Hypertails7773 for looking this over!
> 
> anyway, onto the chapter..........................

He slowly finds his way into consciousness.

 

Damn, that was one crazy dream he had, huh? Libraries, pretty boys, and heavy necklaces that couldn't be removed…but he's home now, and any second his alarm will go off, and he'll get to school properly.

 

Yeah. His nice bed, comforter, pillows, a cat--

 

Wait a minute. He doesn't own a cat. His mom's allergic.

 

Ryuji can feel his heart sink before he even opens his eyes.

 

It's the same room he crashed in the day before, except he can't see Akira anywhere, and there's a cat right next to him. Just…staring, with it's bright blue eyes.

 

Creepy.

 

One second, he's alone with this weird cat, then he blinks, and Akira's standing next to the bed.

 

“Shit! Dude! You nearly gave me a heart attack!”

 

“Sorry.”

 

Guess he's not even gonna bother and explain how he did that, which is just great, another mystery to solve.

 

“Morgana told me you were awake.” Akira continues.

 

“Is Morgana this creepy looking cat?”

 

The cat honestly looks like it's frowning, which shouldn't even be possible, but at this point, who is he to question what's possible anymore?

 

Akira's expression mirrors the frown on the cats face. “Hey, he's not creepy.”

 

“Looks pretty creepy to me. No soul behind those eyes, man.”

 

“That's true, but it doesn't make him creepy.”

 

“Wait, for real?!” Ryuji tenses, leaning _away_ from creepy cat.

 

Akira face splits into a grin. “I'm kidding. He's a normal cat. Mostly.”

 

Morgana hops off the bed, and disappears out the door. Good riddance. He didn't need that thing staring him down this early in the morning.

 

“What time is it?” Ryuji didn't have any way of knowing.

 

“Time doesn't work normally here, remember?”

 

Another freaky part about this. Ryuji sits up, slouching forward.

 

“It's the morning for you, so it's breakfast time.” Akira offers him a hand.

 

Which he pushes aside. He can get up himself. Which he does.

 

“Can't go anywhere without ya. So lead the way.” He shrugs, sticking his hands in his pockets.

 

Akira has a weird expression he can't quite pinpoint, and it's turned back to a neutral look before he can make sense of it.

 

“Right. C'mon.”

 

He leads the way, right out of the room, down the confusing labyrinth of hallways. A few people wave to him, and he waves back with a smile, that drops from his face almost immediately afterward.

 

“Why does everyone know ya, dude?” Ryuji can't help but wonder.

 

“Used to be an admin, remember?”

 

“Right, right…”

 

He tries to keep track of how many doors they pass, and where everything is, but everything gets jumbled and turned around in his head. It’s not long before he gives up on it entirely.

 

“Here it is.”

 

It's...a food court. An honest to God food court.

 

People are sitting at nice looking tables, having breakfast, laughing and-- ew, again with the PDA? Do these people have no shame?!

 

Akira leads him to get into line to get something, and he can't help but ask why everyone's so touchy feely.

 

“Why's everyone got their tongue stuck down each other's throats all the time? People are tryna eat, man.”

 

Akira just shrugs, seemingly unbothered. “That's just how it is, here.”

 

That's when he sees it. The, the _thing_ serving food like some kind of lunch lady.

 

It ain't human, though it's built like one. Human shaped, but completely ash grey, no discernable features, and nearly entirely translucent. No one's paying it any mind, and the longer Ryuji looks, there's _more_ of them. Cleaning up, cooking, serving.

 

“Dude, what is that thing?!”

 

Akira looks confused, then sees what Ryuji’s looking at. “Those are just the workers. We call them shadows. I think Igor makes them.”

 

“And that doesn't seem weird to you at all?!”

 

“No.” Akira shrugs, grabbing a plate, and handing another one to Ryuji. “Like I said, that's just how things are here.”

 

“Right. Just how things are here.” Ryuji mumbles. The whole time the thing is giving him food, an omelet just the way his mom makes it (which is weird, how did it know exactly what he was in the mood for?) He eyes it carefully, just in case it makes a move.

 

It doesn't. Just methodically serves people, over and over, the same motion. Like a broken record. Creepy.

 

God, he's gotta get out of this place.

 

Akira takes them to go sit at a vacant table.

 

“I'm going to visit my friend today, Naoto and her lesser.”

 

That name is familiar. “Wait, uh, she used to be an admin too, right?”

 

Akira looks kind of proud of him that he remembered. “That's right. I think you'll like her.”

 

“I dunno man, I haven't liked much of the stuff here yet.”

 

That frown shows itself again. “Thats a shame. It's nice here, I promise.”

 

“Yeah, I guess.”

 

They eat in silence. Akira makes him leave his plate and silverware where it is, and as soon as they step away, one of the freaky shadow things comes by to clean it up.

 

Ugh.

 

Akira's leading him away again, and Ryuji doesn't even bother looking at his

surroundings. No point, he can't keep track of anything here anyway.

 

He gets led into one of those cozy common rooms, with armchairs, a roaring fireplace, and plenty of couples doubling up in the chairs. More PDA. Which is just, great. Awesome.

 

“Over there.” Akira points, and there's several armchairs around a table, with a chessboard on it.

 

There's a guy, and he's a _big_ guy, could probably kick Ryuji’s ass without even breaking a sweat. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that this dude was the higher.

 

The girl is tiny in comparison, lounging casually on his lap, exuding a cool confidence.

 

Ryuji makes a mental note not to piss off either of these people.

 

“Hello, Naoto.” Akira smiles as they approach.

 

“Hello, Akira.” She smiles right back, and then her gaze locks onto Ryuji, _instantly_ putting him on edge.

 

“I thought I heard you finally got someone. I wasn't sure if it was true. You know how rumors are.”

 

He can't help but shift uncomfortably under her gaze. Feels like she's looking into his soul.

 

“Please, sit.” She gestures to two chairs, on the other side of the table. On the table, there's a set up chess board waiting for them.

 

Akira sits with no hesitation, and Ryuji… with a bit of hesitation. 

  
“I’m going to use the black pieces.” Naoto declares, spinning the board so the black set faces her. 

  
“Why? Black is more my aesthetic. Not to mention it brings a disadvantage. White always moves first.” 

  
“Precisely. I like a challenge.” 

  
And they start playing. Ryuji’s never played chess, he’s more of a Monopoly kind of guy, because chess is a bit...well, boring. He doesn’t know what else to do, and he can’t leave, so watching is his only option. 

  
“I’m glad you finally found someone. I was worried you would be hunting for the perfect lesser for eternity.” Naoto moves one of her pawns. “What’s his name?”

  
“He can speak for himself.” 

  
“Of course. My apologies.” She looks up at Ryuji which again is, _intimidating._

  
“Uh...it's Ryuji.” He answers, lamely, slumping in his armchair.

 “Ryuji.” She echoes, her gaze going to Akira’s hand, whos moving his own piece. “I believe Akira already mentioned me to you, but I’m Naoto.” She looks up at the guy she’s currently using as a seat, and you would have to be absolutely blind if you didn’t see the affection in her gaze. “And this is Kanji.” 

  
The unmistakable affection is mirrored in Kanji’s expression, as he looks down at her. Almost to the point of making Ryuji squirm a little bit. Is he supposed to be doing that? Having Akira sit on his lap and look down at him like he’s the world? He nearly rejects the thought as soon as he has it, only on pure instinct. 

  
The moment ends, and the two go back to normal, Naoto moving one of her pieces. The game goes on in silence for a little while, until Naoto speaks up again. 

  
“I understand it must be hard to adjust to this place. Many of us were in the same position before. If you need any help understanding how things work, talk to either Kanji or myself.” 

  
“I can help him adjust, Naoto.” It's almost like Akira takes offense to that. Like she's saying Akira can't do it himself. 

  
“I know.” She rolls her eyes. “It's just that things are shifting. You’ve felt it too, I’m certain. Someone is going to make a move, and cause a domino effect.” 

  
Akira bites his lip, looking… nervous. “You think it’s gonna involve… _him?_ ”  
  
She nods, not even having to think about it. “Of course it will. It always does.” She moves another piece. 

  
“Checkmate.” 

  
“Already?” Akira frowns at the chess board, as if glaring at it will change the outcome. 

  
“Your mind was somewhere else. That made it easy.” The tiniest, self satisfied smirk crosses her face.

 

“C'mon Akira, it ain't usually _that_ easy for Naoto to beat ya.” Kanji smirks right along with her.

 

“I'm just distracted. A bit tired.”

 

“Didn't sleep well?” Naoto asks, tilting her head slightly.

 

“I…slept on the floor.” He confesses, wrapping a strand of his hair around one finger.

 

“Dude! You slept on the floor?” That's the first Ryuji's hearing of this.

 

“I didn't want to make you uncomfortable or anything, sleeping in the same bed.” Is... he blushing? Ryuji really isn't sure how he feels about that.

 

“Always the gentleman.” Naoto sighs. “Unless you'd like to play again, maybe you should assist Ryuji with understanding how this place works.”

 

“Right...” Akira stands up, and leans across the table, shaking her hand. “Good game.”

 

“Good game.” She echoes. “We’ll see you later.”

 

With that, her attention completely turns away from them, and back to her lesser, nuzzling her face against his neck. Akira starts to go, and Ryuji's scrambling to follow, not wanting to be left with them if they decide to play tonsil hockey.

 

“Hey, dude?”

 

“Hm?” Akira slows down, to walk at Ryuji's pace, at his side.

 

“Can we talk about…stuff?”

 

“Of course. Let's go somewhere more private.” He looks immediately concerned, gently grabbing Ryuji's wrist, tugging him to a more secluded corner.

 

He glances around, and then finally turns to Ryuji. “What's wrong?”

 

“Nothing's _wrong,_ man I just wanted to talk about the sleeping on the floor thing.”

 

“Oh.” The concern disappears off his face almost immediately. “It's fine. You need personal space.”

 

“Dude, 's your bed, I ain't gonna take it from you every night. We can alternate.”

 

“But I don't want you sleeping on the floor.” He frowns, and Ryuji frowns right back. “And I don't want you sleeping on the floor, either!”

 

“Then we'll have to compromise.” Akira bites his lip, which shouldn't be as attractive as it is.

 

“Guess so.”

 

“...What if we slept in the bed together--”

 

“Hell no!” Ryuji crosses his arms.

 

“--but slept back to back?” Akira finishes, ignoring his protest.

 

That...actually wouldn't be so bad. And it is a compromise.

 

“Fine. Just keep that freaky cat away from me, okay?”

 

A soft smile crosses Akira's face. “No promises.”

 

“Excuse me. Is everything all right over here?”

 

Ryuji looks to whoever has approached them, and it's the boy that approached him, when he first got here, and was wandering the halls.

 

Akira's eyes narrow, and he instantly look on edge, simply because of this guy's presence.

 

“Everything's fine.” Akira's like a cat with his haunches raised, and you can practically _see_ the tension between these two.

 

“Just checking.” Akechi smiles that fake pleasant smile.

 

“If you're done checking, you can leave now, _Goro._ ” Akira practically _hisses_ , and Akechi puts a fake innocent act on.

 

“No need to be so aggressive, _Akira._ I was just making my rounds.”

 

“Skip me next time you make your rounds.”

 

“I'll try to remember.”

 

All three of them know he purposefully won't remember.

 

“So this really is your lesser?” Akechi's focus turns to him, and Ryuji has a bad feeling about this.

 

“He's not much to look at.” Akechi looks Ryuji up and down, making him want to turn away, hide himself, _some_ thing.

 

“What did you say?” Akira turns to face him entirely, his entire face stone cold, except for those eyes.

 

By now, people are starting to take notice of the confrontation, looking up from their books and board games.

 

“I said, he's not much to look at.” Akechi repeats himself without hesitation. “You could have done much better.”

 

“What, _you_ think you're better?” Akira laughs, a harsh noise that makes Ryuji wince, and snaps him into action.

 

“Akira, dude, don't bother with this guy, he isn't worth your time.” He puts a hand on Akira's shoulder, who promptly shakes him off.

 

“Not now, Ryuji.”

 

The dismissal leaves him oddly hurt.

 

The two highers have approach each other, nearly toe to toe, staring each other down, waiting for the other to make a move. There's no way this isn't gonna end in a full on fist fight--

 

_“Enough!”_

 

A familiar voice shouts, pushing the two boys apart.

 

“Thank you, Kanji.” Naoto, ever the calm one, steps in front of her lesser, who's currently holding Akira and Akechi apart. She steps between them.

 

“If you two would like to take this somewhere else, that would be advised, as you're upsetting other residents.” Her voice is cold, clipped, entirely serious. Ryuji watches on with awe. Even though he knows she's no longer an admin here, obviously she still remembers how to handle stuff.

 

“If not, then that's _enough._ Go your separate ways.” She looks up at Kanji.

 

“You take Akira. I'll handle this one.”

 

“Got it.”

 

He grabs Akira's shoulder, dragging him back over towards Ryuji, while Naoto leads Akechi the opposite way.

 

“The hell were you thinking, man?” Kanji scolds, crossing his arms. “It ain't worth it to pick a fight with that guy. Don't let 'im get under your skin.”

 

“I know, I know.” Akira rubs the back of his neck, all the intensity drained out of him. “I'm sorry, really. It's just...”

 

“When other highers shit talk your lesser? Yeah, I know. Naoto gets like that sometimes.”

 

For some reason that surprises Ryuji. “ _She_ gets all intense like that?!”

 

Kanji nods. “Oh yeah. People learned to stop fuckin’ with us a long time ago.”

 

“I bet.” Ryuji mumbles, glancing over at her. It looks like she's scolding Akechi just like Kanji's scolding them, and he doesn't seem to be too happy about it.

 

Kanji grimaces. “Gotta get back to 'er. You know how it is.” He pats Akira's shoulder. “Don't let that ass get under your skin. He ain't worth the effort.”

 

With that, Kanji turns on his heel, returning to his higher.

 

“Why do I feel like Akechi got a worse talking to then you?” Ryuji mutters, looking over at Akira, who's watching Kanji go.

 

“It's because Naoto and I, neither of us like him. He was fine a long time ago, but something changed, and now...”

 

“He's a real ass?”

 

“Yeah, exactly.” Akira nods, and grabs his hand. “Let's get out of here.”

  
As Akira leads him away, he can feel the gaze of just about everyone in the room on his back.

 

  
If looks could kill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, writing akechi and akira about to throw hands: fight fight fight fight--
> 
> this akira and akechi dynamic is a total 180 from my last big fic lmao, more about that whole past will be revealed later,,,
> 
> uhhhh, please tell me what you thought, it will really keep my motivation high for this fic!
> 
> thank you for reading <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is pure filler  
> i PROMISE after this chapter there's a really big dramatic plot-y chapter  
> you just gotta get through this  
> trust me  
> once more, thank u Hypertails7773 for editing this!   
> anyway, uh, here it is! pls enjoy!

The rest of the ‘day’ is a quiet affair.   
  
Ryuji has questions, of course he does, pretty much everything in this place. Namely what’s the history behind why Akira was so  _ hostile _ the second Akechi appeared. But everytime Ryuji opens his mouth, the words just shrivel up and die in his throat. 

Akira seems lost in his own thoughts, so he doesn’t even seem to notice Ryuji’s internal struggle with all the questions he’s amassed. Maybe later when they’re getting ready to go to bed, when they’re on their own, he can ask some stuff.   
  
Lunch is served and they wander the library some more.   
  
Maybe it's because of the earlier confrontation, but everywhere they go, people seem to whisper. Pairs of highers and lessers form little groups of four or six, and they  _ whisper _ . Ryuji isn’t a stranger to whispers. He got them at school. About his dad, about his strange status as a delinquent.   
  
He’s certain that while he was gone, while his leg was healing, there were whispers then too.   
  
Dinner is served. Ryuji gets served a beef bowl by the weird shadow person, which is his comfort food. Sure needs comfort today.   
  
Turns out while they were gone, the room formed another closet next to the one originally in there, full of clothing that was perfectly to Ryuji’s taste. Some of it he even actually owned back in the real world. And there were some pajamas in there.   
  
“Uhh, dude, can you turn around?”   
  
He’s been with this guy perpetually while he’s been here and they’re both guys, but for some reason...he doesn’t want Akira to see him getting his pj’s on.   
  
“Sure.”   
  
Akira obediently turns around, looking the other way.   
  
As Ryuji gets dressed he remembers his plan to ask about things, but now that he’s here…his tongue is tied.   
  
“I know you have questions.” 

So Akira  _ did  _ notice.   
  
“Yeah, man…a lot of them.”   
  
“Can I show you something first?”    
  
“Sure. Just let me get my jammies on.”   
  
Akira snorts, and it sounds like he’s laughing. “Did you just call pajamas? Jammies?”   
  
Which utterly confuses Ryuji. “What, like you don’t?”   
  
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone refer to pajamas as jammies  _ not  _ in an ironic way.”   
  
“Then you just ain’t talking to the right people!”    
  
Ryuji pulls the long pajama pants on, with some difficulty.    
  
“Alright. You can turn around now. Show me what you wanted to.”   
  
Akira turns around and beckons him over, going over to his closet.    
  
Ryuji follows, curious as to what he might want to show him.    
  
Akira reaches up, past the hangers of his clothing (which is all mostly black. He wasn’t kidding when he said it was his aesthetic) and reaches for a shelf. He shuffles his hand around a bit, finding what he was looking for, making a little ‘aha’ noise, and pulling it down.   
  
It's a mirror.   
  
A fancy looking one, a handheld one, with a handle. Looks like it's made out of silver, or something equally expensive.    
  
“Why’d you want to show me a mirror?”   
  
“Just, let me explain.”   
  
Akira holds it out to him, and he grabs it by the handle. It’s…not as heavy as he thought it would be.    
  
“Every higher gets one of these mirrors.” Akira explains, tapping the center of it. Ripples radiate out, making Ryuji jump, nearly dropping it.   
  
“Careful.” Akira warns, and then continues, “We use it to look at the outside world, identify who we want to bring in here.”   
  
“Oh.” Ryuji gets it now. He tries to figure out how this would work if time doesn’t really happen in this library, and all he does is succeed in making his head hurt a bit. “So you used this to look at me? And Naoto used this to look at Kanji?”   
  
“Yep. Typically…they tell us to look for people down on their luck. Kanji was having trouble with police and grades, and you…”   
  
“My leg.”    
  
Of course, Akira had to have known.   
  
“Yeah.” Ryuji looks up from the mirror, to find Akira looks…well, almost like he feels guilty. Which is good. He should feel guilty.   
  
“Dude, you realize that’s…this is fucked up.” He shakes his head. “You go after people down on their luck because they got nothin’ to lose. You probably know everythin’ about me, cuz of this thing.”    
  
Akira opens his mouth to say something, but he’s not in the mood for that.   
  
“So why’d you pick me, huh? Cuz I had the shittiest life this side of the effin’ North Pole? Cuz you felt bad for poor Sakamoto, with his stupid bum leg!?”   
  
“That’s not--”   
  
“That’s just, thats  _ fucked up _ , man. Do you ever think about what the other person feels!? Like, at all!?”   
  


“Ryuji--”   
  
“Sure, it worked out for Naoto ‘n Kanji, they like,  _ love _ each other, obviously, ‘n they wouldn’t have met if not for this, but it's still fucked up! Not every single higher can be as nice as her, y’know! There’s bound to be shitty ones, like, like  _ Akechi, _ and--”   
  
“Ryuji!”   
  
Akira finally successfully interrupts. Ryuji opens his mouth to continue venting his frustration, but Akira just looks…so sad. So he’s the one to shut his mouth.   
  
“Sit down.”   
  
Ryuji backs up, sitting on the edge of the bed, just staring at the mirror in his hands.    
  
“Listen, Ryuji. About Akechi, he’s…”   
  
“A jerk.”   
  
Which brings the tiniest smile to Akira’s face. “Well, yes, but that’s not what I was going to say.”   
  
“What were you gonna say?”   
  
“That one time…we tried to pair up.”   
  
“...Oh.”   
  
“Yeah.” Akira grimaces. “It didn’t go well, for obvious reasons.”   
  
“I bet…”   
  
“Neither one of us wanted to be the lesser and neither one of us was giving each other a single inch, it just wasn’t working. So I called it off.”   
  
“And that’s why he kind of hates your guts.”    
  
Akira’s smile gets a big bigger. “That’s why he hates my guts.”   
  
“Then you stopped doing the admin thing...” He starts putting together the timeline, out loud.   
  
“Yep.”   
  
“And got a lesser. Which is me.”   
  


“Right again.”   
  
“And he’s mad because, we paired up, and he didn’t get to.”   
  
“Bingo. Though I suspect he’s over it, really, but just holding onto the anger.”   
  
He blinks, looking up at Akira, obviously confused. “Why would someone do that?”   
  
He shrugs. “I don’t think he has anything else to hold onto.”    
  
Ryuji lets out a nervous laugh. “J-jeez, I think we’re getting too deep for one night.”   
  
“Agreed.” Akira gently takes the mirror from him, putting it back in the closet, where it was. “We should be getting to bed.”    
  
“Yeah.”    
  
It's then that he remembers the agreement they came to earlier. Back to back.    
  
Right.   
  
It's fine, he can manage it, Akira doesn’t seem to want to push his boundaries, though it’s pretty obvious that boundaries are supposed to be pushed here. Who knows what the people playing tonsil hockey out in the open do when they’re behind closed doors.   
  
Akira seems to be waiting for him to get in there first, so he does, getting under the covers and facing the wall.   
  
A moment later, he feels Akira join him, putting a comfortable distance between the two of them.    
  
…   
  
“Akira?”   
  
“Yes?”   
  
“You keep that cat away from me, got it?”   
  
It almost sounds like Akira’s laughing, but trying to hold it back. 

“Got it.”

It takes him a while, but eventually, he drifts off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can't wait for ya'll to cry at chapter 4  
> please tell me what you thought!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A turning point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its here the drama chapter
> 
> thank you Hypertails7773 for editing this, as always! lots of love!!
> 
> enjoy!~

“Wake up, Ryuji.”

 

It must be time for school, and his mom has come into his room to wake him up for it.

 

“Ngh...five more minutes.” He grumbles.

 

“I just thought that you might not be super into have Morgana in the bed.”

 

_ Oh shit, he forgot about the cat. _

 

Ryuji sits up lightening quick, and sure enough, to his right, that damn cat is just sitting on Akira's lap, and  _ staring _ at him.

 

“Thought I told you to keep that thing away from me…” He grumbles.

 

Akira shrugs, scratching behind Mona’s ears. “He gets lonely without me.”

 

“That's freaky, man. You're talking about that thing like it's human.”

 

It may just be his imagination, or the fact that he just woke up, but he swears the cat’s eyes narrow, and it's glaring at him after that particular comment.

 

“Don't be insensitive, Ryuji. He's just as human as anyone else.”

 

“You don't scratch other humans behind the ears, do ya?”

 

He tilts his head, and a hint of a smirk appears on his face. “Do you  _ want _ me to scratch behind your ears?”

 

“Hell no!”

 

“Point made.”   
  
He rubs at his eyes, throwing the covers aside. “How long have you been up?”   
  
“Time doesn’t--”   
  
“Doesn’t work here normally, yeah, I remember.” He grumbles. Akira’s out of his pajamas, so he must have been up for a while. Which means both him and the cat were just looking at him for who knows how long.   
  
Creepy.

 

The cat suddenly perks up, it's ears wiggling in a way that is actually pretty cute (Ryuji can admit that much) and stops glaring at him, instead looking at the door.

 

Akira seems to perk up just as much as Mona does, his body tensing up like he's preparing to take a hard hit.

 

“Morgana smells trouble.”

 

“How do you know that's what he's thinking?”

 

“I just know, okay? Questions later, possible trouble right  _ now. _ ”

 

He hops out of bed, and Morgana dashes out of the room.

 

“No time for you to get dressed. We gotta go.”

 

Ryuji gets up as well, looking down at himself. “But, you got to change!”

 

“I woke up before you.” Akira shrugs, and grabs Ryuji's hand, which… isn't that bad, honestly. He'll allow it. “You snooze, you lose, Ryu.”

 

“Dude, my mom calls me that.” He must've made a face, because Akira snorts.

 

“We'll discuss that later. Cmon.”

 

Before he knows it, Ryuji's being practically dragged out of the room.

 

Down the halls, and into one of the many common rooms they go, where they spot a crowd.

 

Akira seems even more tense now,a telltale crease in his brow revealing his concern. He’s leading Ryuji by the hand closer to the crowd that formed. With Akira in the lead, he parts the crowd easily revealing what they're all gathered around.   
  
The crowd has formed a loose circle around an unusual group of people. Naoto on the opposite side from...Akechi!?

  
Caroline and Justine are next to the admin, keeping Kanji away from his higher. The girls have almost blank looks in their eyes, completely emotionless. 

 

They don't  _ look _ strong, but they must be holding Kanji up like that.

 

“What did they do to him?” Ryuji whispers, horrified. Kanji looks to be out cold...   
  
"You can't punish us with baseless accusations alone!” 

  
His gaze swings to the other side of the circle, where Kanji’s higher stands, she wants to take a running start and kick the side of Akechi’s head. Naoto’s mad, but she's  _ panicking _ anyone with eyes can see that.   
  
"But I don't just have baseless accusations Naoto." Akechi's unbelievably smug. Ryuji has never wanted to punch someone more in his life, and that’s saying something. But with Akira's iron grip on one of his hands, all he can do is clench and unclench his fist, gritting his teeth.

 

Akechi gets out a piece of paper, reading from it as if he’s been waiting for this exact moment his whole life. 

 

"You removed your lessers necklace without a reason, attempted to leave the library without permission, never informing an admin for leaving said library, were caught attempting to contact those on the outside, are accused of conspiring against the administration, and along with several other smaller, but  _ very _ important infractions.”   
  
Naoto opens her mouth and then closes it silently fuming. This just makes Akechi look more smug.

 

“What's going on here!?” Akira finally steps into the circle, taking Ryuji with him, the crowd closed behind them like a door slamming shut.

 

"Naoto's broken an incredible amount of rules. I'm simply punishing her, just like I would do for anyone else.”

  
Every single person in that room knows that's not all this is.   
  
“By making a public spectacle?” Akira asks, and he’s completely ignored.

  
Akechi taps his lips with one gloved finger, as if he's thinking.

  
"I think a fitting punishment would be...I mean, considering all the rules you've broken... hmm...” The sadistic gleam in his eyes is all too familiar. Ryuji has to look away, shuddering.

 

“...A 14 cycle separation from your lesser."   
  
The entire crowd gasps. Naoto's eyes go wide.   
  
"No, no, you can't do that to me. Akechi, you  _ can’t. _ Akira, tell him he can't do this!" She points an accusatory finger towards the admin, desperately looking towards Akira, who doesn’t seem intimidated in the slightest by Akechi’s little show of power.

 

“Akechi! That's absurd! That’s practically murder!” Akira yells at him, but the admin pays him little mind.

 

"Last time I checked  _ I _ enforce the rules around here. It's not my fault the minimum punishments for her rule breaking added up to so long."

  
Akechi shrugs casually, as if he's not ruining two young lives in one foul swoop.   
  
He turns to look at the eyepatch twins, their eyes still entirely blank. "Girls, take him." He orders.

  
The blank slate twins both grab one of Kanji's arms each, ready to haul him off.   
  
"No!"

  
Naoto rushes forward, grabbing onto Akechi's collar. He doesn’t seem worried by that, either just looking at her,  _ daring _ her to do something.

  
"You can't do this to me! To  _ him _ ! Akechi, it'll kill him! Please, y-you-"

  
She hiccups, unable to hold back her tears big wrenching sobs as the implication of what’s happening to her lesser sets in. Akechi easily brushes her off, with a quiet sigh, as if this is a minor inconvenience.    
  
"Bastards on a power trip..." Ryuji mutters, squeezing Akira's hand.

 

He's seen this once before.

 

"What the fuck..." Akira blinks. "This...what is..."

 

He seems to recover from the shock of the situation, switching to  _ pissed off _ in a matter of seconds.   
  
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

 

Naoto's knees have hit the floor. She curls up on herself, crumples like paper into a ball. It just about breaks Ryuji's heart.

 

No matter how strong she pretends to be, she's just a kid.   
  
"We're done here." Akechi waves everyone off. "Nothing to see here. Disperse immediately." 

 

The crowd quickly disperses, as no one wants to meet the same fate.   
  
Ryuji finally breaks away from Akira’s grip of steel, and goes to kneel next to Naoto, checking on her. She doesn’t notice his presence, and if she does, makes no movement to show it.

 

“Naoto, hey, c'mon, we'll get him back, don't you worry, you hear me?” Still, she makes no attempt to respond. He's not even sure if she heard him at all.

 

“Akechi!  _ Goro! _ Fucking look at me!”

 

The smug look on his face is unbearable. “What?” 

 

Akechi tilts his head, putting on his stupid innocent act. Ryuji grits his teeth, rubbing Naoto's back. It’s all he can do. Again, she doesn't respond, sobbing into her hands.

 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Akira's seething, rightfully so.

 

"I'm simply acting out my duties."   
  
"Duties!?” Akira gapes, like he can't even believe he just said that. “Acting out your duties, my ass! You just gave Kanji a death sentence!”

  
Naoto sobs particularly loudly at the word 'death.'

 

“C'mon, Akira. Ain't nothing we can do right now. Leave that bastard alone.” They need to get Naoto put together.

 

Akira dismisses Akechi with a wave of his hand. “Get the fuck out of here. No one wants you here.”

 

"I can see that.” He nods, respectfully. "I'll just go see to it that Kanji is brought to the appropriate holding cell.”

 

With that, the admin turns on his heel, walking away like he doesn't have a care in the world, leaving destruction in his wake.   
  
"Jesus fucking Christ..." Ryuji mutters. He's not even sure that just happened.   
  


“Jesus fucking Christ is right.” Akira sighs, rubbing at his face. "His duties… Ryuji, can you help Naoto up?"

 

“Yeah.” He gently grabs her arm, helping her to stand. “C'mon, Naoto, you gotta get up. Just be strong a little bit longer.”

 

She shakes her head, leaning on him heavily for support. But still, she gets up.

 

Akira’s quick to go to her other side, enveloping his friend in a hug. She doesn't protest, instead just clinging onto him and pressing her face against his chest.

 

“Don't worry, Naoto, we'll get him back.” Ryuji tries to be assuring, though he has no idea how that will actually happen. 

 

“The question is, where are they keeping him, and how can we break him out…” Akira mumbles, still holding onto his friend.    
  
“She ain’t in a state to go off lookin’ for him, man… ‘s too suspicious.” Ryuji lowers his voice. “Akechi’s probably on high alert. Gotta be smart about that shit, yknow?”

 

“Right.” Akira grimaces, and looks down at the girl in his arms. “Do you want to stay in our room tonight?”    
  
She shakes her head no.   
  
“Naoto, you’re gonna be moping all alone if you just go to your room. Cmon. We can set something up, right, Kira?” Ryuji looks to his higher, hopeful.   
  
“Yeah.” Akira nods, confirming.    
  
After a moment, she nods yes.

 

“Atta girl.” Ryuji encourages. “Let's get back there and figure out a plan.”

 

One boy on either side of her, they support her all the way back to the room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: how can i put drama into this story  
> me to me: make akechi a total asshole  
> me: but i love akechi
> 
> its a perpetual conflict
> 
> haha. that was sure fun, wasn't it??? we love causing Severe Pain to my favorite persona couple ever  
> i teared up when i was first writing this all out lmao


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new player enters the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hoo boy....  
> i lost a lot of motivation for this fic so this was written so far after the last chapter, bls forgive me for being so late  
> pls enjoy!

That night, they leave Naoto in their room. Morgana is left to watch over her, ready to alert them if somethings wrong.   
  
There's no one in the dark hallways but them. Everyone else is either in their rooms sleeping, or doing something more unsavory.    
  


Right now, they’re just trying to figure out where Kanji’s being held. Even Akira doesn’t know, since they must’ve switched things around since he had been an admin.   


  
Akira’s leading the way, holding Ryuji’s hand tight.   


  
“They’d have to keep him somewhere secure.” Ryuji offers in a low whisper, trying to help.   


  
Akira stops, all of a sudden, and for a second Ryuji thinks his words have somehow struck a chord with him. Maybe triggered a memory. Then he hears the footsteps, just around the corner.   


  
Ryuji slowly approaches, peeking around the corner, and-   


  
Making eye contact with a guy who’s halfway out one of the windows.    


  
Akira follows Ryuji’s lead, quickly fully stepping out into the hallway.   


  
“Hello.” The boy steps back into the library fully casual as can be.   


  
“Were you leaving just now?” Akira asks, his voice low.    


  
“Don’t gotta lie, we won’t tell.” Ryuji adds.   


  
“That’s right.” The boy doesn’t seemed worried at all. “I was helping a couple escape.” He says this as if it isn’t a huge deal.    


  
“Ah.” Slowly, a calculating smile creeps across Akira’s face. “So, you would know this place inside and out?”    


  
The boy nods. “Like the back of my hand. Before you ask, you can’t come too. I have to stagger these things.”    


  
“That’s fine. We’re not looking to escape yet.” Akira waves him off.   


  
Wait, yet? Before Ryuji has a chance to ask about that, Akira’s continuing on.   


  
“We have a friend. He’s been locked up. Kanji Tatsumi.”   


  
A strange expression crosses the boys face, and Ryuji can’t quite determine what it is before he goes back to fully neutral. “I can help you. How long is he going to be locked up for?”   


  
“14 cycles.”    


  
The boy whistles, low and quiet. “Anyone who survives a 14 cycle separation from their higher would wish they hadn’t.”    


  
“I know.” Akira nods.    


  
“Psst! Partner! What’s taking so long?!” A voice whispers frantically from outside the window.   


  
“That’s my cue.” The boy smiles politely at them, climbing up onto the window sill again. “I’ll be back to help.”    


  
Just like that, he’s gone, slipping out of the window and closing it behind him. A lock snaps into place all on it's own.   


  
Ryuji and Akira are left in the moonlit hallway, with more questions than answers.

 

\---   
  
The rest of their search proves fruitless, and a few close encounters with either Justine or Caroline patrolling the hallways is more than enough to send them back to their room. 

 

Akira’s hesitant to return to Naoto with no new information, Ryuji can tell, can see it in the way he walks, that he really doesn’t want to go back to the other higher and tell her they have no clue where Kanji could be.   
  
“So, who do you think that guy was?” Ryuji whispers, unsure if they’re nearly there or not, not wanting to wait.   


  
“Not sure.” Akira shakes his head.  “Maybe a former resident? I’m hoping Naoto will know.”   


  
“Yeah. Ain’t often you see someone with silver hair like that. And she’s like, a genius, right? Good memory.” At least, he hopes so. That boy is kind of their only lead right now.   


  
Akira stops at one of the identical doors, and it seems this one is theirs.   


  
They open the door, and everything is just as they left it. Naoto resting on the bed, Morgana keeping careful watch.   


  
“You’re back.” She sits up, obviously hopeful. “What did you find?”   


  
“Just about nothing.” Akira sighs. Naoto’s shoulders slump.    


  
“Yo, ‘Kira, tell her ‘bout that boy we saw.” Ryuji prompts.   


  
“A boy?” She asks, the hopeful look reemerging.    


  
Akira approaches the bed, sitting down on the edge of it. “There was a boy leaving the library through a window. We spoke with him and told him our circumstances, and he said he would be back to help.”    


  
Naoto thinks about this for a minute. “Did you recognize him?”   


  
“Nah, and he didn’t seem to know ‘Kira, either.” Ryuji answers. “I was kinda hoping you would know ‘em.”   


  
“You were an admin much longer then me, Naoto. Do you think you could give us a name based on a description?”    


  
“I could try.” She seems hesitant.   


  
“He was taller than both of us.” Akira recalls.   


  
“How tall?”   


  
“I would say about five feet, eleven inches.”   


  
“Any striking physical features?”   


  
“Uh, yeah, he had this silver hair thing going on. Couldn't tell if it was dyed or not.” Ryuji supplies.   


  
“Hm.” Naoto considers this. “Did he have anyone with him?”   


  
“Yes.” Akira nods. “We never saw any of them. He was helping a couple escape, and another boy’s voice whispered to him to get going from outside of the window.”   


  
Naoto thinks about this some more. “I think I know this name. I would like to hesitantly conclude that the boy you encountered was Yu Narukami.”    


  
“I’ve never heard of him.” Akira frowns. 

  
“You wouldn’t have. He was here long before you were. Both myself and Kanji were good friends with him.” She looks almost pained to even utter her absent lesser’s name.   


  
“So why’s he able to just leave like that?” Ryuji asks. “I couldn’t get outta here no matter how hard I tried.”   


  
“Highers have an ability to leave.” Akira explains. “But only with permission. The privilege can be revoked once they’ve found a lesser.”    


  
“Yu left the library to get a lesser, and never returned.” Naoto looks down at her hands. “We all assumed either he had decided to stay out in the real world, or had been killed or injured, unable to return. Now I see that wasn’t the case.”   


  
“And so his privilege was never revoked, because they thought he was dead?” Ryuji asks, frowning, finally taking a seat on the bed with them.   


  
“I would assume so.” Naoto nods. “It seems to be the most plausible case.”

“That seems like a serious oversight.” Akira leans back, frowning to himself. “I don’t think Igor and the others would’ve overlooked that.” 

 

  
“In any case, he has the ability to leave the library seemingly at will, and return when he likes. Which may prove helpful.” Naoto rubs the fabric of her shirt between her fingers, biting her lip. “We have less than 14 cycles to get Kanji out. I feel as though it doesn’t need to be said, but I can count on you two, right?”    


  
“Duh.” Ryuji rolls his eyes. “I dunno how all this shit works yet, but I’ll help best I can.”   
  
Akira rewards him with a smile for his loyalty, before turning to his friend. “Of course, Naoto. We’re both here for you.”   
  


She looks somewhat relieved. “Thank you…so, I truly can stay here tonight?”   
  
Ryuji grins. “If you wanted a threesome, you could’ve just asked-”   
  
“Ryuji!” She shrieks, and Akira smacks him with a pillow for that, which he totally deserved.   
  
\---   
  
Naoto does end up snuggled between them, as no one wanted to make her take the couch, and Ryuji and Akira wouldn’t be able to be comfortably separated.    


  
Ryuji isn’t really able to sleep…   


  
“..’Kira?” He whispers. “You awake?”   


  
“Yeah.” Akira whispers back. Ryuji can’t see him in the dark…   


  
“I got a question, ‘bout what you said earlier.”   


  
“What is it?”   


  
“Uh, when we talked to that Yu guy, he said something like, we couldn’t come with him to leave, because he has to stagger stuff?”   


  
“So?”   


  
“And you said, ‘we’re not looking to escape,  _ yet.’” _ Ryuji takes a deep breath. “So what I’m saying is, you’re thinking about doing it, not now, but sometime later?”   


  
There's  a pause, and he’s worried for a minute he’s said something wrong.   
  
“Well, yes.” Akira confesses. “After Akechi…well, did  _ that _ , to Naoto… it’s not safe here. Not safe here for you. So I’d like to get you out of here.”   


  
“But what about you, dude?”    


  
“If you would have me, I’d like you to let me come with you.”    


  
Ryuji considers this. Having been lured here was really fucking awful, but it’s not really Akira’s fault. He didn’t even realize that was a shitty thing to do, and he’s been here so long, he probably can’t remember what the real world is like. Would Ryuji really be willing to leave him here, or strand him in the middle of Tokyo with no concept of how things work, and no money?   


  
No. He’s not willing to do that. Akira’s his friend, or something like that.   


  
“Ryuji?” Akira whispers, sounding a bit worried, breaking him from his thoughts.   


  
“Yeah. You can come with.” He decides. “I’m pretty sure Ma would like you.”    


  
Mentioning his mother makes his heart squeeze. He really does miss her…she’d know just what to do. Walk up to that Akechi guy, smack some sense into him, knock him down a few pegs. The mental image brings a smile to his face.

  
“Thank you.” His higher sounds incredibly relieved.   
  
“Yo, ‘s no problem, dude.” He assures him.    


  
He thinks that’s the end of it, and closes his eyes. It's only when he’s on the edge of consciousness does he hear Akira mutter something, but it's nearly impossible for his sleepy brain to decipher. Thinking nothing of it, he finally lets himself drift off completely. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a wild narukami appeared!  
> okay, uhhhhh, please lemme know what u think! comments keep my motivation High  
> thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> and thus it is revealed that i am, actually, super into pegoryu AND akeshu at the same time lmao
> 
> if it was unclear, akechi is the boy that ryuji runs into in the halls of the dream library!
> 
> also! if there are any tags you think should be added, please let me know!
> 
> please let me know what you think!!


End file.
